Opposing Force: Welcome to the Empowered Department

It’s a normal day. A young man, out jogging, gets hit by a truck… but this time, the truck comes off badly. He stands in the middle of the street, shaking slightly, and an undeniable dent in the truck confirms his greatest fear: It did hit him

In the dead of night, a young woman fleeing a gang in one of the nastier parts of the city pants to herself, “I knew not to go there… I knew not to go there…” She turns a corner and meets a dead end. Seconds behind, the gang round the corner and react in surprise – she has vanished. Floating upward, she looks down, stifling a cry of amazement.

These stories have become almost common during the last year. People are developing superhuman powers in this otherwise normal, modern world of Terra.

Quick to respond, the news agencies around the world have started to publicise many of their stories, fixing on the term “Empowered” to refer to these individuals.

Initially met with scepticism, increasing numbers of eyewitnesses and even displays in the streets are leading to some of these individuals being lauded as heroes.

Naturally, people’s fears are beginning to overcome their wonder, especially as the first Empowered criminals start to emerge. The power to lay waste to an entire street, to walk through the walls of a bank vault or to control people’s minds are bad enough in theory, without people with the Abilities in question roaming the streets, willing to use them

Almost as if it was a natural, predestined reaction, some Empowered now assist law enforcement to stop the criminals which so outmatch any normal human. Most politicians and high-ranking officials oppose this, demanding the arrest of any individual who takes the law into their own hands. Law enforcement officers themselves, however, are divided on the issue: the majority of them do not want to face someone who can throw lightning bolts or fireballs and will happily support individual Empowered who are helping them. This has led to tacit agreements with heroes in some cities, while in others, local authorities actively hunt anyone who breaks the law, including masked vigilantes

A group which refer to themselves simply as “Aegis” has formed, led by the charismatic Martian Pants Man. They welcome any Empowered into their group who seek protection and a place to live, in the hope that this will reduce the number turning to crime to survive. They allow individuals to come and go as they please from their shared, and secret, underground lair, kept undetectable by one of the most powerful of their number. They are not alone – other sanctuaries aimed at Empowered are appearing around the world

Many members of Aegis choose to fight criminals in the local area, despite the risks involved, while others choose to take refuge after being rejected by their families or community, simply for having their Abilities

Of course, the precision and co-ordination of the criminals’ attacks imply a similar level of organisation. Who is recruiting and guiding these individuals, and what is their ultimate goal?

As an Empowered, you are often left with one important choice: do you support the forces of order or embrace the chaos which the criminals offer…?

Person of Interest

“Times have changed since the early days of the Bunker. Empowered moving all over the world has given us the chance to put some proper facilities in here,” begins Armistice, cautiously, looking at you all in your seats. “And this is to be the first mission using them – a simple recruitment. 

With Harbinger and his goons wandering around, grabbing anyone they can find to join them, we need to make sure that we get to as many as possible first. 

“The potential recruit has a fascinating power: she can mimic the properties of any substance that she touches. 

Her name is Gemma Woodman, a sixteen-year-old who lives with her family in a flat in the heart of the city. Assess her personality and abilities and, of course, ask her to join us. 

Go soft, guys… she might be twitchy.”

The team  

Senior Massacre

Mega Mojo

Miss Mass

4 Clover

Fleshsmith

The group arrive at Gemma’s house, and see a very modern-looking large apartment building, six stories tall. 

Mega Mojo and Miss Mass fly around to the sides to guess what flat they need to find, frightening some of the residents as they look through the windows.

4 Clover, Senior Massacre and Fleshsmith head in some taking the stairs while others take the lift to the 6th floor.

Arriving at flat 44

Senior Massacre hears someone moving around inside without much care – items are being knocked off and smashing or clattering to the ground.

Senior Massacre storms in and sees a shadowy figure halfway out of the broken window. He is wearing black cargo shorts and a black hoodie with a large blue X on the back. “If she won’t join us, she won’t be joining anyone!” he yells at them, then jumps through. 

Senior Massacre gives chase, Miss Mass lucks out and sees the rooftop chase. At one point pinning X so Senior Massacre could catch up, but Senior Massacre miss stepped and faceplanted on the roof, giving X a chance to break free and flee, hidden in a crowd, they find his jacket, abandoned in a trash bin..

Meanwhile back in the flat 4 clover and Fleshsmith quickly see there was a struggle. The flat is small for three people but reasonably well-kept. From the doorway into the living room, there are two bedrooms to the left, with the kitchen and lounge to the right.

In Gemma’s room, they can find clues of places that she might have run to. There is a flyer on her desk, featuring a band playing that night at a nearby club.

Careful searching in the living room reveals a note under an overturned end table, from a friend called Tracy. 

They phone and persuade Tracy to help introduce Gemma to the group. 

As the group is searching the flat, her parents will walk in. 

Senior Massacre discloses that their daughter is Empowered, which shocks her parents, and then says that there daughter has been kidnapped, he then tries to convince them by blowing his own brains out, which causes them to freak and faint.

Yer Senior Massacre does not do gentle reveals.

When Mega Mojo wakes them up and clams them down, they will reveal that she likes to hang out at the nearby club with her friends. 

Armistice communicates over the team’s radios. “What on Terra are you guys doing? We have been getting reports of disturbances by people matching your descriptions! You’re causing a public panic!” 

They then secure them in Safehouse 3.

It seems Aegis is not the only group interested in Gemma, which is perhaps not surprising. She is now on the run, fearing any Empowered who might approach her… not the best mindset to bring her in quickly and quietly.

The Hard Sell

Armistice is not happy. “I gave you a simple task and you have the entire area up in arms. You’re supposed to know better than this!” She pauses, audibly counting to ten over the radio before continuing. “So, the situation is, our potential recruit is now on the run from an unknown assailant? At least you have a lead, I suppose. You’d better get down to the club. We’ve decided it’s best you bring both her and her family to Safehouse 3. But, for goodness’ sake, be prepared for this mystery man to show up. If he does, try to bring him into custody as well.”

The mission has changed from recruitment to a race to save the missing girl. 

Entering the building, the group will see the club caters to a “punk rock” audience. Looking around, the average age is late teens to early twenties, mostly dressed in black with metallic accessories. There is a stage at the far end of the building with a bar against the left wall. There are a large number of people spread out over the floor, at several tables and against the bar. There is very loud music being played (rather badly!) by a band on stage.

4 Clover got a Job behind the bar

Mega Mojo and Miss Mass got a job working for tips as a table magician

Fleshsmith entered the club normally

Senior Massacre decided to break into the back and tried to take over the DJ booth.

The team search the crowded place for Gemma. Tracy helps make contact with Gemma. 

Gemma is not enthusiastic to see the group, although she listens to what Mega Mojo has to say. As they are making introductions, there is a sudden commotion at the entrance of the club: a group of three people push their way in, knocking over tables and customers alike.

X is now joined by two other members of Artibus: “V” (a 37-year-old woman, dressed in a white leather jacket with a red V on each shoulder), and “Z”, her partner (27-year-old man, dressed in a blue jacket with a small Z over the heart).

  

X walks up to them casually, and shouts over the music at the nearest member of the team, “I knew if I followed you guys long enough, you would lead me to the target. Now, unless you rookies want to put all of these innocent people in danger, you might want to just hand her over.” 

Mega Mojo runs with Gemma and Tracy to try and hide them.

A large bouncer stalks his way across the room to remove them.

The rest of the group start trying to target X, V and Z

V uses a nearby metal table to throw the bouncer across the room and pin him to a wall. The room explodes in panic as everyone starts heading to the back exits or any other hiding places that they can find. 

The team will now have to push their way through the panicked herd of frightened people, some of whom may blame them for the current situation. 

X grapples the team hard hurting them.

The centre of the room will clear relatively quickly and the team enter a fight.

However, there are still several people hiding behind the bar and the tables against the walls, and quite a few individuals are still trying to push their way out of the entrances. 

This means the team had to be careful how they use their powers, trying to avoid putting the civilians in danger.

4 Clover sends out bad luck to X, V and Z.

Miss Mass tries to pin them.

Z blinded them all, and after some near deaths and slips, X, V and Z escape without Gemma.

Aftermath

Victorious over Artibus, you return to Safehouse 3

In the middle of the room, on the coffee table, has a photo lying on it. Turning it over, you see a note on the back: “Come to the old chemical lab at sunrise.”

All or Nothing

You saved Gemma, but you couldn’t protect her parents from Artibus’s wrath. They have taken her family captive to use as leverage to force her to join them. If you can save them for her, she will likely see the wisdom in joining Aegis, but that feels like a big “if” right now.

The priority is rescuing them, but you should also consider trying to capture any members of Artibus you can get your hands on: they are clearly a threat. Of course, they have proven to be experts in escaping your clutches in the past…

The mission has changed from recruiting an Empowered to rescuing her parents. 

Gemma is terrified about what might happen to them and it took a lot of convincing to not surrender in panic whenever her family is threatened.

As the group is about to leave, they will find Gemma blocking the door. 

She demands that the team to take her with them to rescue her parents. 

The team agrees. She shows that her power was not substance mimicary as first thought but power mimicary, where she can copy the powers of other Empowered.

The trip to the chemical lab is relatively uneventful, and the group arrive shortly before dawn, as demanded.

This location is a commercial installation which was destroyed. The building was collapsed by a series of well-placed explosives, so the whole area is covered in large piles of debris and, potentially, canisters of chemicals which have escaped destruction. Only small portions of walls still stand showing that this once was a large complex.

The members of Artibus are not hiding this time: they have made it easy to find them. They are standing in a cleared area, which is surrounded by large piles of debris on all sides. Beyond them, Gemma’s parents are tied up and gagged. They appear to have been restrained by force (bruises, small cuts), but do not seem to have been seriously harmed. 

When they see the team, they react accordingly, eyes widening and mumbling through their gags, asking for help.

X takes a step forward to address the team. “Artibus will not be stopped by the likes of you. Harbinger has sent us to retrieve the girl, so she will be ours. If you want her, you’re going to have to take her parents from us.” 

As the team instantly attack they discover that Artibus and the hostages are, in fact, illusions created by Z.

Artibus then appear from other locations attacking the team. 

This fight is to prove their dominance: this time, they will not be running.

X is a strong and tough Unarmed combatant, who trys to Grapple any members of the team who do not possess super strength or super toughness. 

He will also use smoke grenades to smother the area, rendering any target he chooses blind, while his enhanced vision allows him to function normally.

Z is armed with a Handgun and uses illusions to fool anyone attacking him into thinking he’s exposed or making a mistake, while he uses that distraction to sneak up on them and open fire.

V, as the most powerful of the group, will exclusively use her Empowered Abilities, throwing metal and the large chunks of concrete attached to them at any heavy hitters among the Aegis members. 

Fleshsmith after hitting a few illusions takes out V in one shot, with an utter look of shock in V's eyes as she realises too late that Fleshsmiths swords are not metal, but flesh and she is not immune to those!

The Team get blinded by Z, while X is pounding on them, but with 4 Clovers luck they keep escaping major injury.

Miss Mass then sends X up in the air where he can no longer grapple anyone.

Mega Mojo and Gemma cloning his power start sending magic missiles towards Z

Senior Massacre starts shooting and missing Z

Fleshsmith then hurts Z badly and receives a shot to the head in response.

Senior Massacre then saves Fleshsmith while the others are blasting at Z.

Once they are defeated, a second wall of illusion will drop, revealing the hostages inside what had apparently been a solid block at the edge of the combat zone.

The team hand over X, V and Z to Aegis rather than the police

Gemma reunites with her parents immediately and she agrees to join Aegis.

Aftermath

The team were able to save Gemma and her family and defeat the known members of Artibus. 

They have also successfully recruited a new member to Aegis! 

It is, however, clear that this has not been a one-time incident. Aegis will need to investigate how many Empowered have been recruited into the Harbingers using these tactics. And how many other groups like Artibus are out there, just waiting for a chance to fight? This feels like a problem that hasn’t been entirely resolved yet…

Welcome to the Empowered Department

Briefing

Agent Johnson flips through some folders on his desk, then looks up at you. “You have been working as solo Empowered until now. Of course, you have now signed the Empowered Act, which allows you to use your powers freely, on the condition that you work for the Empowered Department. Aegis has been transformed and rebranded as the Empowered Department. This is your first assignment, but you will quickly learn that I do not accept mistakes on my team. I am sending you to investigate a commercial organisation which is shipping dangerous chemicals.

There is no Empowered activity detected here, but the chemicals are more dangerous to non-Empowered. As always in the Empowered Department, I expect no killing unless it is totally unavoidable.” Johnson slides a paper with the location of the compound and an official search warrant across the table to the closest one of you. “Good luck.”

There have been many events over the last several years that have come close to destroying everything that humanity has worked to create. It became necessary to create a group whose job it would be to battle forces that normal law enforcement cannot adequately contain. The UN has agreed to the establishment of the Empowered Department for this very reason.

Mission

The compound covers a large area, which is surrounded by a high chain-link fence topped by razor wire. A large warehouse is visible at the opposite end of the compound from the entrance, along with logistical transport vehicles and a few civilian cars are parked nearby. Several smaller buildings are dotted around the area, apparently for storage of different types of chemicals. The main entrance is manned by a security guard. Employees can be seen moving boxes with forklifts and small pickup trucks. There is a fair amount of activity happening but nothing looks suspicious.

The team take ages trying to work out a way to break in via the roof, flying up to the roof via Miss Mass and Mega Mojo's powers, then remembering they have a search warrant.

The team show the guard the search warrant upon arrival and Miss Mass spots that he is trying to discreetly call to warn the people within. 

He states he was calling management to notify the administrator of the situation. 

The lobby looks like a waiting area with a small reception desk. 

Miss Thackary and four security guards are waiting for them when they arrive. 

After a small amount of conversation, she commands the guards to attack. 

Miss Thackary then leaves the fight and retreats into the warehouse.

Meanwhile Fleshsmith and 4 clover are making there way down through the roof hatch.

Miss Mass and  Mega Mojo are pinning the guards to the celling as Senior Massacre fights those still at ground level.

This is all going quite well till Mega Mojo looses train of thought and catapults himself up from the sofa into the celling then back down to the sofa. Miss Mass picks up the slack as Senior Massacre fights on.

An alarm goes off sending all the people working in the large open lot to become panicked. 

When they have defeated the security guards, they will find that everyone else in the immediate area has ducked into one of the buildings, hiding. If questioned, they will claim to know nothing – many won’t even speak the same language as the group. The only other place of interest is the main warehouse at the far end.

Once in the main storage room of the warehouse, the team will find Miss Thackary standing at the back of the room, surrounded by stacks of large barrels and metal shelving filled with boxes. Several more security guards  will attempt to subdue the group. 

They first throw a Smoke Grenade in the middle of the group. 

Miss Thackary yells out, “Don’t fire your weapons! A ricochet could blow the entire building!” before fleeing from the fight, vanishing further into the building with the smoke covering her retreat.

 Senior Massacre seems not to care and fires blindly towards the guards, as he storms out through the smoke towards their deer in the headlights eyes.

Fleshsmith has used a different exit via one of the offices where he sees Miss Thackary holding another woman hostage at gunpoint in the back of a van.

Fleshsmith cuts through the vans back wheel rendering her escape worthless.

With an intimidating look from Fleshsmith, Miss Thackary gives up.

Vehicles then rush up and Johnson walks out smiling. “Great job, everyone. You have accomplished your goal and avoided killing anyone unnecessarily.”

Aftermath

“As you might have realised by now,” Johnson continues, “this was an exercise to see if we could trust you to work in the field. For your first time working together, and for this type of assignment, you didn’t do too badly. It is clear, however, that you all have a long way to go when it comes to teamwork and communication.”

Agent Johnson is in charge of assessing and training these new recruits so that they are prepared.

He has set up a testing compound designed to let the recruits move freely but keep the general population out of harm’s way. 

The trick to this assessment is that the trainees don’t know that the whole mission is a set-up. Everyone in the compound is either an Empowered or a non-Empowered that works for the Department. 

The Empowered members are there to assess the newcomers and contain the situation if things get out of control. There are also medics spread out across the area, just in case someone gets badly hurt. If anyone on staff has to break character, the mission will be viewed as a failure. If any of the barrels or boxes are opened they will only contain dyed water.